LoneStar Posted February 16, 2005 Report Share Posted February 16, 2005 Planning a trip to Washington State this summer and I'm pretty appalled at the price of lodging in the local National Parks. Heck, with priceline, you kind of think you can get a decent place to stay for less than 60 bucks! It's more than twice that for accomodations within the National Parks.So I'm wondering whether I should "try something different" and rent an RV. Anybody have experience with this, and a strategy to rent one at a discount? Thanks. Link to comment
dsg56 Posted February 17, 2005 Report Share Posted February 17, 2005 My friends and I rent one every year to go to a Nascar race, but we haven't had much success at finding one at a discount. We live the the St. Louis area, so vendors are limited. Fortunately we are spreading the pain across 5 people. Link to comment
dahammer Posted February 17, 2005 Report Share Posted February 17, 2005 I have rented from Cruise America in the past, this is a franchise or similar to Uhaul. We go up to State College, PA to tailgate and see Joe Paterno's Nitnany Lions. :) The milage charges are usually pretty high, $ .60 per mile or more. I have heard of some folks flying into a location, like the Grand Canyon area and picking up the RV to save time and keep the milage costs down. Link to comment
LoneStar Posted February 17, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2005 thanks for the input. I went to CruiseAmerica to do a price check and it does seem expensive. Basically, I need the per day charge (including something like 100 miles) to be $120 or less or I'm still better off paying the "over-priced" rates in the Nat'l Park lodges. Initially, it doesn't look like I can get the rate that low, but I'll do some more investigation.Sure is making me think of grabbing a tent and sleeping bags and do the camping thing. It's just hard to pay $150 or $175 to stay in a modest lodge or cabin, when you're used to paying a fraction of that for nicer priceline accomodations.BTW, not all Nat'l Park lodges are overpriced. I recall paying something around 80 bucks a night in Yosemite last year for a very decent cabin. no complaints at the Bright Angel Lodge at the Grand Canyon, either. It just depends on where you're going. Link to comment
dahammer Posted February 19, 2005 Report Share Posted February 19, 2005 you might forget a hotel room but won't forget an RV vacation near a national park :) Plus, you can change your scenery every few days by picking up and moving to a new campground. I guess the only downside of going to a campground or an RV park is you might get stuck next to the campers from h***. A colleague has a "Pop UP" trailer and it is perfect for his family of 4; he bought it used for $2500 and will probably sell it for $2000 in 4 years after his kids get tired of it. Link to comment
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